What Fools These Mortals Be
by Yami no Miko
Summary: I'm back! And, amazingly, this is not a mindless comedy! What happens when a magic spell goes awry, sending four teens to the Slayers dimension? Please read!
1. Surprise! A spell to travel through tim...

A/N: Okay, this doesn't seem like a Slayers story from the prologue, but just wait. 'Kay?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.  
  
A/N 2nd: Woo-hoo! I finally managed to come up with an (I hope) original plot!  
  
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What fools these mortals be."  
  
Nick sighed and lay back. Tonight was Midsummer's Night, Summer Solstice to witches, hence the quote, and he had managed to dig up a really good (not to mention really old) surprise for his Circle for the festivities tonight.  
  
Faith, the Earth element in their Circle, lay on the grass beside Nick.  
  
"So, excited?" she asked, a smug grin on her face.  
  
Nick lazily nodded, though he was really doing his best not to fall asleep. The mixture of the warm sun and the cool breeze blowing from the bay always had that effect on him.  
  
"From what Ricki tells me, you have a big surprise for us tonight," Faith commented.  
  
"I do." the Air element replied, then fell back into silence.  
  
Faith could usually bait him into spilling the beans, but she didn't try. She had a certain love of secrets herself.  
  
Not so with Ricki, the Fire element of their Circle.  
  
"C'mon, what is it, Nick? Tell me," she pleaded, sitting on his chest.  
  
"Get off me, Ricki."  
  
"Pleeeeeeease?" she asked, making disgustingly cute puppy-dog eyes at him.  
  
Faith got up and walked back to the bleachers in the small park, which were nice and shaded. She didn't usually mind the games Nick and Ricki played, but it was one week until the third anniversary of the worst (and last) breakup of her life, and she was less tolerant of emotions (love, in particular) than usual.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
Faith looked up from where she had laid down on the top row of the bleachers. Standing next to and above her was Josh, the Water element and cryptic member of the group. He was much more withdrawn than the rest and rarely, if ever, opened up to anyone.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
Josh sat down on the bench beneath Faith's, resting his head on her leg.  
  
"Why don't I believe you?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
Faith and Josh naturally tended to band together, almost the way Ricki and Nick did. Both were much more quiet than the others and only spoke when they needed to say something. Unlike Ricki and Nick, the silences between the two were never uncomfortable. And, in Ricki's opinion, both were a bit mysterious.  
  
"Believe what you choose to," Faith replied, shifting the leg Josh wasn't resting against.  
  
"Are our two babbling cohorts annoying you?" Josh asked.  
  
Faith considered her answer, then said, "No. I guess I'm just dreading the upcoming anniversary. It seems to scream at me just how undesirable I am."  
  
"Ahhh." Josh said, understanding completely. "So I guess when you say you don't want a boyfriend, that's just talk."  
  
Faith shook her head, then realized Josh couldn't see the action and said, "No, that's not it. I never said that. What I said was that I didn't want to be tied up to some idiot who never knows when to shut up."  
  
Both reflexively looked at Nick and Ricki, who were now laying side-by-side and watching the clouds.  
  
"I'm sorry. So, are we meeting here tonight or at Mapontalia?" Josh asked.  
  
Faith, glad to have the subject changed for her, said, "Mapontalia. Nick's fixed it up since the last storm."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The horizon had just started to turn a bright pink, and Nick finished up, then stood back to admire his handiwork.  
  
"Quite the job done, if I do say so myself." he muttered, beaming.  
  
Mapontalia, once a section of small, interlinking clearings in the woods near his house, had been named because of what lay scattered all over the forest floor like a carpet when Nick first discovered the place- maple leaves. They had been everywhere, and he had immediately brought his Circle (then only him and Faith), and had it approved as a meeting place.  
  
Since the founding celebration, Nick had been the caretaker. He had fixed up fallen logs as benches, set up a small shrine, and kept the place beautiful in the process of 'fixing it up'. The shrine held something of value to each element. In his case, it was the feather of one of his pet birds, to signify air. For Josh, the Water, there was a dried seastar he had found at the shore with his grandfather years before. For Ricki, the Fire, there was a bag of ashes from bonfires she had been at over the years. And, for Faith, there was a set of small, red stones set into rotting cloth.  
  
Nick had asked Faith once about the red stones, and she had answered cryptically, "They feel right for this."  
  
Faith never failed to wear those red stones for ceremonies and celebrations, always glued to new cloth for the occasion but removed afterwards.  
  
And now the place was perfectly set up for what he had planned. The ritual circle was in place, unlit white candles at each of the four directional corners. He had memorized the incantation, and had all the necessary 'ingredients'.  
  
He smiled to himself again and went back to his house to wait for the others.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, what do you think the surprise is?"   
  
Josh raised a skeptical eyebrow and sighed. "Ricki, whatever it is, Nick planned it, so it can't be good. It's probably just another of his contests."   
  
He involuntarily shuddered, remembering the Winter Solstice they had let Nick plan. Cooking with 'whatever you can find'. He doubted Nick's mom had forgotten Ricki's 'masterpiece'.  
  
Ricki was silent a few minutes, then began talking again. "Thanks for the ride, Josh. Hey, what do you think Faith made these cool robes out of?"  
  
Josh, sitting in the driver's seat, mentally turned the radio on and ignored the female in the passenger seat, who, for the fourth time that night, was admiring the 'really cool new robes' that the Earth had made for everyone.   
  
'Although,' he thought, 'I do have to admit that they are kinda cool. I mean, who else would spend all that time making these for everybody?'  
  
The 'really cool new robes' were a set for the Circle, custom fitted, and made in the same pattern, with the base color being white and the secondary colors differing in each person. Josh's was blue for water, Ricki's was red for fire, Nick's was silver (he assumed that was the color Faith associated with air), and Faith had made her own a dark green.   
  
Ten minutes later, they were at Nick's house. Josh and Ricki lived in the city, whereas Nick and Faith lived in the same small wooded town they were now in. It was a short ride, and both admired the forests that were everywhere.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, what's the surprise?"  
  
"You've asked me that every five minutes since you came over. Can you freaking wait another three minutes, please?" Nick asked, straightening his robes and handing out sections of cord that he tied together.  
  
Faith and Josh both looked down at theirs, which were tied around their waists, and back up at Josh.   
  
Faith voiced the question. "What the hell is this for, Nick?"  
  
He grinned. "Alright, the moon's about to reach its zenith, so it's almost time. I found a spell for inter-dimensional travel, although the spell says it's for 'time-travel'. I kinda tweaked with it, though."  
  
Josh went pale. "What do you mean, you 'tweaked with it'?"  
  
"Well, I kinda rewrote parts of it, and updated other parts." Nick replied, still smiling.  
  
"Nick," Faith said, a hand to her forehead and her voice devoid of emotion, "How old was this spell?"  
  
"Pretty old. Why?"  
  
"It was probably the way it was for a reason!" Faith shouted.  
  
"Whatever. You're behind me, right Ricki?" Nick asked.  
  
Ricki bit her lip. This was pretty cool in her opinion, but Nick had a history for screwing up spells. And considering the nature of this spell, it most likely wouldn't end very well at all.  
  
"Of course I am. Let's do it."  
  
Josh looked to Faith, and she scrunched up her eyebrows in indecision. They were both practical people, but still, they were teens, and when you find an opportunity like this, you don't bloody well pass it up, do you?  
  
"Let's go." Josh said, looking back to Nick.  
  
"Alright, link up your hands, everybody." Nick said, grin back in full force. "And I'll say the incantation."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Will the spell work? How old is pretty old? And just why are Faith's red stones so special?  
  
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be', and for the love of Miko-sama, R/R! 


	2. New Friends! A human-shaped lump?

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.  
  
A/N: Okay, there're probably a whole bunch of sets of demonsblood talismen, but let's just pretend there's only one? 'Kay?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ohhh... my head hurts...." Josh groaned, sitting up. The sun was bright in his eyes, and he had one hell of a hangover. Not a good combo.  
  
Wait. Hangover? He didn't remember getting drunk last night....   
  
"Last night..."  
  
Reality snapped back to him, and with it the realization of what had happened.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Alright, link up your hands, everybody." Nick said, grin back in full force. "And I'll say the incantation."  
  
Everyone grabbed their neighboring element's hands, then lined up at their corners, according to element. In the end, Faith and Ricki stood facing each other, and Nick faced Josh.   
  
Nick began an odd chant, low-pitched and slow. It gradually started to grow faster, and as it sped up, it became louder. It sounded like an ancient language, Nick's specialty. Strains of ethereal music started, accompanying his baritone. Ricki looked at Faith and gasped. The red stones, now tied around Faith's neck, wrists, and waist, were glowing.   
  
The shrine in the center of the circle was also beginning to glow an odd, greenish-white color. Nick broke the chant and started a new one, in the same ancient language the first had been. The glow became brighter, until it was almost blinding, when Nick shouted something in English and said an incantation, also in English. Whatever he had said, none of them heard it, because the soft music had become so loud.   
  
And then the music and Nick's incantation stopped.  
  
Josh looked around, a bit puzzled, until the glowing shrine seemed to explode.  
  
Then everything went black.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Shit. Not good, not good."  
  
He looked around him for Faith, Ricki, and Nick. He was sitting on a dirt road, somewhere out in the country, and Nick was sprawled next to him, one arm draped over his legs. Nick was snoring, so he was probably alright. Ricki was in the ditch next to the road, also snoring. That left Faith. He heard someone mumble something about Paris in their sleep, and looked up. Faith was lying in a tree by the road, and she looked.... really comfortable, actually.  
  
He got up and stretched, not liking how loud the pops in his back were.  
  
"Oh, man, I feel like I slept on a road..." Josh turned and saw that Nick had sat up and was rubbing his head. He looked around him and finished his statement, "Hey, I did. Nevermind."  
  
"Nick..." Josh said, eye twitching.  
  
Nick looked up at him and smiled, then stretched. "Yeah man?"  
  
"I'm gonna kill you!"   
  
The screams of Nick and rage-filled shouts of Josh woke up Faith, who stretched and smiled. "Wow, that was the best night's sleep I've ever had."  
  
Then she looked down and saw she was in a tree.  
  
"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"  
  
Thud.  
  
Nick and Josh paused to look at the Faith-shaped lump on the ground and winced.  
  
"That... had to hurt." Josh said.  
  
"No kidding," Nick replied.  
  
Then Ricki woke up, groaning and stretching. "I feel like I slept in a ditch..."  
  
"You did," Josh pointed out.  
  
Ricki looked around, rubbing the back of her head, and said, "Oh, so I did. Nevermind."  
  
Josh got up and stretched his arms out, yelling to the sky, "Morons! I'm surrounded by morons!"  
  
"I resent that comment!" the Faith-shaped lump called.  
  
"Oh... sorry."  
  
"Um... are you guys alright?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Lina-san, do you hear something?" Amelia asked, furrowing her eyebrows.  
  
"Actually, I do. It sounds like there are people nearby." Lina replied.  
  
"Really loud people," Zelgadis commented, his enhanced hearing for once just an annoyance.  
  
"That's great! We've been wandering around for days!" Amelia said, stars appearing in her eyes.  
  
As usual, Lina's only comment was, "They better have food."  
  
They walked a few minutes, coming around a bend in the road, and saw the aforementioned loud people. The first person for Lina to notice was a tall boy, around her age, with short blonde hair, a slim build, and dark brown eyes. He was (at least it looked like he was) wrestling another boy, about his age, who was slightly shorter with black hair and dark blue eyes. In a ditch was a girl with black hair about the same length as Zel's and light green eyes. And on the ground beneath a tree was a lump that might've been a human.  
  
Amelia, feeling a grand justice speech coming on, charged forward, only to fall flat on her face after the 'evil rock' of the day tripped her. Instead, Lina walked up and asked, "Um... are you guys alright?"  
  
They all froze and turned to look at the newcomers. The tall boy with blonde hair got up and walked over to Lina, extending a hand.  
  
"Hi, I'm Josh. Where are we?"  
  
Zel, Lina, Amelia and Gourry all facefaulted.   
  
"Guess this means they don't have any food." Lina moaned from the ground.  
  
Lina was back up in a minute, though, and took Josh's hand.  
  
"Nice to meet you Josh. I'm Lina Inverse." she said, grinning.  
  
"Nice to meet you, too. This is Nick," he said, pointing to the boy still on the ground.  
  
Lina quirked an eyebrow. "You haven't heard of me?"  
  
"Uh... no?" Josh said/asked.  
  
"Wow, Lina-san, they must really be from far away," Amelia commented.   
  
"Yeah," Gourry continued, "If they haven't heard the rumors about the Dra-matta, the only person who can spook dragons-"  
  
"Shut up Gourry!" Lina screamed, applying a firm elbow-to-head move on the dim swordsman.  
  
After a bit of awkward silence following Lina's... er, 'violent' reaction, Nick got up and extended a hand, which Lina shook. Then the black-haired girl (whose hair actually did look like Zel's, considering she just woke up... go figure.) was walking over, and she also extended a hand.  
  
"Hi. I'm Ricki." she said, beaming.  
  
Lina introduced herself and her entire gang, then pointed to the human-shaped lump. "Is that a person?" she asked.  
  
Josh walked over to the lump and pulled it up, then walked it over to where Lina was standing. It turned out that 'it' was a girl. A girl with shoulder-length brown hair, and unusual red eyes. Who was wearing demonsblood talismen.  
  
"Hi," the girl said, extending a hand, "I'm Faith."  
  
But Lina wasn't paying attention. She grabbed Faith's hand and did a quick magickal scan. Yes, those were demonsblood talismen she was wearing.  
  
"Where did you get those?!" Lina screamed.  
  
Faith jumped back and 'eep'ed. "Get what?"  
  
"The talismen!"  
  
Faith stared at Lina like she was a crazy woman, then realized what she was talking about and said, with a smile, "Oh, these? They've been passed down in my family to me."  
  
Lina did another quick scan, then fell to her knees.  
  
"Lina-san, what is it?" Amelia asked, supporting Lina.  
  
"They... they have a magickal signature.....mine."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
What went wrong to send Nick, Ricki, Josh and Faith to the Slayers world? Will the Slayers gang ever find food? Why does Faith have talismen with Lina's magickal signature? And is 'talismen' really the plural for 'talisman'?  
  
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be', and review to make the author feel special! 


	3. Explanations! Magickal signatures?

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It took a few minutes for the realization to sink in for Lina. But there were so many questions now... what did this mean? Why exactly did the talismen have her signature?  
  
She shook her head and looked up at Faith.  
  
After about ten minutes, Faith began to get nervous and started to rub her neck nervously. She looked to the others for support.  
  
"Um... guys? What's she doing?" Faith asked, sweatdrop forming.  
  
Her crew all shrugged.  
  
"Alright, can I ask a question here?" Nick interrupted the little show-down.  
  
All eyes turned to him.  
  
"What year is it, and where are we?"  
  
Faith smacked him, then realized that he had actually asked an intelligent question.  
  
Zel, of course, had to point out that, "That's two questions."  
  
Nick looked at Zel. "Bite me."  
  
Zel took a step back to where Gourry stood and asked, "What does that mean?"  
  
Gourry shrugged.  
  
Amelia, however, fielded the question Nick had asked. "It's the year 36 in the reign of Crown Prince Philionel*, and we're in the outer boundaries of Unexplored Zoana**!" She emphasized the statement with a righteous pointed finger, and Nick couldn't help but sweatdrop.  
  
Well, he would've, if he hadn't been attacked by three other people.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After the fighting had stopped (resulting in Nick being left with both eyes black and puffy, a sprained wrist, and bruises and cuts 'a plenty, not to mention leaving Amelia with a black eye from trying to save Nick), Faith, Ricki, and Josh sat as far away from Nick as possible. Being pissed tends to do that.  
  
Meanwhile, Lina had been unusually silent. She hadn't even complained of being hungry. Her group had pretty much decided to camp out on the lonely stretch of road (or, rather, a field next to it) and were setting up camp, while Lina herself sat alone, thinking. Every so often she would glance at Faith for a few seconds. It was really starting to creep Faith out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey, you guys, why does she keep staring at me?" Faith asked Josh and Ricki.  
  
Both of them shrugged.  
  
Faith finally got up the nerve to go over and talk to the redhead. She got up and walked to where Lina sat and sat down next to her.  
  
"Hey Lina." Faith said, trying not to act as nervous as she felt.  
  
Lina just looked at her.  
  
"Um, are you okay? Did I offend you?" Faith pushed, giving a weak smile.  
  
Still Lina sat without saying a word. She only gazed into Faith's red eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Zelgadis-san, why is Lina-san acting so weird?" Amelia asked.  
  
Zel looked at her from where he was cooking dinner (from carefully hidden stores) and sighed. "Amelia, do you know what a magickal signature is?"  
  
Amelia thought about it, opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then said, "No."  
  
"A magickal signature is basically your form of magick. Okay, your signature is something only you can do perfectly, right? Something that only applies to you?"  
  
Amelia nodded.  
  
"Well, when you keep something around you for a long time, or use your magick on something, a little bit of magick- your magick- rubs off on it, therefore leaving a trace of your magickal energy- your signature- on the object."  
  
"Ahhhhh." Amelia made the understanding sound, and Zel almost smiled. Almost.  
  
"That doesn't explain why Lina-san was so upset."  
  
Zel sighed again. "Amelia, she did a scan of the talisman on Faith's wrist and found her own magickal signature on it. Which means that it was once Lina's."  
  
Amelia twisted her head at odd angles. "But... I don't get it. What does it mean? How could the talismen have been Lina-san's once?"  
  
"I don't understand either, Amelia," Zel said, returning to the cooking.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, Nick sat painfully on a rock on the far end of the field. He was bored, but he wasn't stupid. Well, stupid enough to have a death wish. Crossing the field meant death.  
  
So, he contented himself counting his bruises.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dinner time arrived, and Lina partially snapped back into function. She ate enough food to make Faith and Josh sick and to challenge Ricki.  
  
Halfway through the meal, Zel came over to Faith and Josh and whispered, "It's okay. As long as you don't try to touch anything in her eating-radius, you'll be fine."  
  
Faith, pale with fright, simply nodded.  
  
"Hey, shouldn't we take some food over to your other friend? Nick?" Gourry suggested after he had had his fill.  
  
Faith, Josh and Ricki replied at once, "No."  
  
"But don't you think he's hungry?" Gourry pushed.  
  
"I know he is," Ricki said, "But that doesn't mean I want him fed. That bastard effectively stranded us here."  
  
"What about blankets?" Amelia asked.  
  
"He can freeze his stupid ass off," Josh said.  
  
"Can we say 'vindictive'?" Amelia whispered to Zel.  
  
"It's almost like a group of Linas." Zel replied, then shuddered. Just the thought of a group of Linas...  
  
"Well, 'night guys!" Lina said, then headed off to the sack.  
  
Amelia soon followed, as did Gourry and Ricki, leaving only Faith, Josh and Zel sitting around the fire.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, still across the field and shivering, Nick smelled food and whined. He was hungry, but, once again, it wasn't worth the slow, painful death he'd get if he dared cross the field.  
  
"You guys're mean." he whimpered, then tried to go to sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
* I have no idea how they measure time in the Slayers dimension... quite frankly, it boggles my mind. ::shrug:: Oh well.  
  
** Alright, so I couldn't think of a name of a place. Don't hold it against me... I'm just unimaginative at the moment. ::shrug again:: Like I said, oh well.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Will Lina snap out of it? Why exactly DOES Faith have items with Lina's magickal signature? And will Nick ever get fed?  
  
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can stop having bouts of depression over nobody loving her. 


	4. The Sacred Liquid! An author with no sh...

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, but Nick, Ricki, Faith, Josh, and Mapontalia are all mine, baby.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning was bright and sunny. Not that that really mattered to our... er, heroes, because they all slept in until about noon.   
  
Well, except Zelgadis, and he used the fact that he had gotten up a good three hours earlier to sneak some food over to Nick and cover him with a blanket. He may have liked the title 'Heartless Mystical Swordsman', but he wasn't really heartless.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
At noon, it was still bright and sunny, but the air had lost the brisk cold that usually accompanies mornings, even in summer.  
  
As Ricki got up and stretched, the second awake, she was glad that at least the seasons were the same wherever it was they were.   
  
She looked over to the fire the Zel guy had started to make his coffee and immediately perked up. She raced over to his side, holding out a travel mug that never left her side. Growing up in Washington, coffee wasn't just a part of life. It WAS life.  
  
"What do you want?" Zel-something-or-other asked.  
  
"Coffee." Ricki said, grinning.  
  
"This is MY coffee. You want coffee, go get your own grounds and water," Zel said, scooting away with the Sacred Liquid.  
  
"You're mean!" Ricki pouted, putting on her disgustingly cute puppy-dog eyes.  
  
Zel sighed, about to remark on the fact that one Amelia was enough, then remembered what Nick had said earlier. "Bite me." he mimicked.  
  
"When and where, baby?" Ricki replied, baring her teeth.  
  
Zel sported a sweatdrop. These people... they had problems.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
An hour or so later, all the others had awakened. It was probably the fumes from the stew Zel was working on, because directly after rising, his three companions-in-arms had swarmed the pot.   
  
Ricki was still hanging all over him, begging for some coffee, and Faith and Josh watched Lina, Gourry and Amelia eat, disgusted.  
  
~*~  
  
Yami: Zel certainly has a lot of stashed food for a guy who never eats, doesn't he?  
  
Lady Akuma: *nod*  
  
~*~  
  
After the stuffing of the faces, Lina stood, the glint back in her eyes that made her... well, the Dragon Spooker.   
  
"You need to go get your friend, Nick," she said, adopting her usual I-dare-you-to-argue-with-me tone of voice. "I have some questions I need to ask him."  
  
Ricki started seething, giving Zel a chance to gulp down the last of his coffee, and Faith sighed. She turned to Josh.  
  
"You go get him." she said.  
  
"I don't wanna." he replied.  
  
She fixed him with a glare. "Go get Nick. If I seem him right now, I'll beat the living hell out of him."  
  
Josh sighed, then walked off mumbling to himself.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Amelia and Gourry watched the proceedings, both thoroughly lost. Amelia had understood what they were talking about for a while, but then Lina had just lost her. Gourry... well, Gourry had been playing with Mr. Butterfly since Lina opened her mouth.  
  
"So, first off- how did you get here?" Lina asked, pacing.  
  
Nick twitched nervously, looking at his three murderous 'friends'. All three fixed him with death glares.  
  
"Well, I found this spell for time-travel, and I... well, I tweaked with it a bit." Nick said guiltily.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
"Zelgadis-san, what is 'tweaked'?" Amelia asked.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What d'you mean, you 'tweaked with it'? What does that mean?" Lina demanded.  
  
"I just changed some things around," Nick began to sweat, "Changed a language for incantations here, updated some stuff there..."  
  
Lina had the sudden urge to smack Nick, but held her hand back. If she could get her hands on a spell like that...  
  
"Where did you get the spell?" Lina suddenly asked.  
  
"Internet."  
  
Lina didn't know what the internet was, but she'd have time for that later. "Did it say who wrote it? Or how old it was?"  
  
Nick shook his head for no on the first one, but brightened on the latter question. "It's supposedly from the Middle Ages." At her puzzled look, he continued, "In our history, it's about four or five hundred years ago, when there was supposed to be dragons and knights and princesses..."  
  
He rambled on in this fashion, occasionally getting up to make actions, until Lina interrupted him.   
  
"Hold on... it was written in a time that sounds remarkably like the one we live in."  
  
Nick's eyes widened and tears started streaming. "You have all that stuff here?" he asked in a tiny whimper of a voice.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'm home!" he yelled.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dinner that night was an oddly silent one. Lina had eaten with manners (for, Zel suspected, the first time in her life), pondering the information she had gotten from Nick. Which hadn't been that much, really. It struck her as odd, though, that the time periods were so alike, but nobody had recognized the kingdoms they had listed. It just didn't seem right.  
  
Faith came by after they had eaten and sat down by Lina.  
  
"Hi." she said carefully, pulling Lina out of her reverie.  
  
"Hi." Lina replied.  
  
Faith paused for a few moments, then spoke again, "I wanted to talk to you."  
  
Lina waited a minute, then said, "Okay. Talk."  
  
"Why were you so shocked when you... uh, 'scanned', my talismen?" Faith asked.  
  
"It's talismans, and that was because I found my own magickal signature on them. Didn't we already discuss this in the last chapter?" Lina asked, looking at the author.  
  
~*~  
  
Yami: Stop bringing attention to me!  
  
~*~  
A short explanation later...  
  
"But what does it mean?"   
  
"I already explained all I know," Lina said, then looked into Faith's eyes. "Tell me honestly, do you know which of your ancestors these-" she held up the talismans still tied to Faith's wrists, "originally came from?"  
  
Faith thought about it. "Not really. My mom said my grandma Delsey traced it back once and wrote down her name, but I never bothered to read the paper."  
  
"No offense, but I'm tired," Lina lied, "So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna hit the hay."  
  
"Yeah, sure." Faith replied.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lina rolled over on her pallet, unable to sleep. So many thoughts were racing through her head. She had asked Nick what he changed the spell to, and after having him recite it she confirmed that it would indeed work for inter-dimension travel.  
  
So what about Faith? She had an inkling, just an inkling...   
  
"I'm going crazy," she murmured, then rolled over and did a minor sleep spell on herself. Thinking about things she didn't need to know just yet wasn't going to do her any good when she was on the job.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
What's Lina's little inkling? Whatever happened to Mr. Butterfly? Will Zel ever understand twenty-first century slang? And why did the author resort to the shameless act of self-insertion?  
  
Keep reading 'What Fools These Mortals Be' and review so the author can keep writing! 


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